THE PUNISHERS
Membership: Belle, Clarke, "Double Bonus", Dunn, Elliott, Eunece, Freddie, Jenkins, Joey, Ned Whitter, Punisher General (leader), Statter, dozens of unnamed members
Purpose: Violence; Turf supremacy
Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Badoon (Durge, Durgg)
Enemies: Commandeers (Crazy Nate, Gabrielle, Hollywood, Inez, Old Redd, Tarin), Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, The Thing), Guardians of the Galaxy (Charlie 27, Major Victory, Nikki, Yondu), Krugarr, Talon
Base of Operations: New York, @3000 A.D., Earth Guardians
First Appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (October, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: None of the members of the Punisher seemed to possess any superhuman powers, although all of them were heavily armed and quite sociopathic.
History: (Guardians of the Galaxy I#17-fb) After the creation of Realitee-Vee, a new, highly addictive virtual reality program, much of Earth's population died of starvation, never leaving their sets. In Manhattan, New York, those that survived took to the streets, fighting for years, until one gang proved superiority over the rest - The Punishers.
(Fantastic Four Annual#25/1) A group of Punishers opened fire on the Fantastic Four, who were traveling through time to confront Kang. The Fantastic Four easily defeated and captured the small group, before they returned to their primary mission.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#19 [fb] - BTS) The Punishers were able to slip one of their agents, Belle, into the ranks of the Commandeers.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17) While the Guardians and Commandeers searched the streets for the Punishers, they were the ones being hunted, as Ned stood on a roof with a sniper rifle aimed at Major Victory's head.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#18) As Ned got his shot off, the mutant Talon fired a nail at him, causing his shot to be off-balance. The blast still caught Victory on the side of the head, taking him out of the battle. The Commandeers and Punishers opened fire on each other, as Hollywood carried Victory to safety. Many Punishers were killed, but the Commandeers' Inez was lost too. Eventually the Commandeers and Guardians were chased off by the indestructible Ultimate Punisher tank.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#19) As the Punishers celebrated, the Punisher General snapped Ned's neck for letting the Guardians and Commandeers go. The Punishers later caught up to the Guardians and Commandeers, and announced their alliance with the Badoon. Belle then showed her true allegiance, sticking a gun to the back of Charlie 27's head.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#20) Just as the Punishers were about to kill the Guardians and Commandeers, Major Victory, Talon and Hollywood appeared, causing enough of a distraction to turn the tide to their favour. Nikki was able to kill one of the Badoon and Gabrielle killed the traitor, Belle. The Punisher General and the surviving Badoon, Durge, escaped into the Ultimate Punisher, but Hollywood was able to lift it, and threw it off of the side of a building. The Sorcerer Supreme of the time, Krugarr managed to catch the Ultimate Punisher, and on the request of Charlie 27, teleported it to a safe location, along with the Guardians and Commandeers. Charlie 27 then began to rig the Ultimate Punisher to explode. Inside the Ultimate Punisher, the Punisher General had decided to cut his losses, opening fire on the Badoon. But when he began to get out, promising he left his weapon inside, Gabrielle shot him dead. The Ultimate Punisher then blew, but Krugarr was able to teleport the living to safety.
Comments: Created by Jim Valentino
The Punishers actually gained inspiration from watching Major Victory's docuchips on heroes from the 20th century.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Belle has no known connection to...
"Double Bonus" has no known connection to...
Ned Whitter has no known connection to...
The Punisher General is not to be confused with...
Punisher General
The leader of the Punishers, the Punisher General was a sick, sadistic sociopath, who didn't even have a problem working with the Badoon. When he heard that the Commandeers and Guardians had joined forces, he decided to send every Punisher in his ranks to finally end the war with the Commandeers. When he was told by Ned Whitter that he had let the Commandeers and Guardians escape, he snapped Ned's neck.
Later, the General, along with the Badoon and his entire army
of Punishers, confronted the Guardians and Commandeers, but when Major Victory
returned, he attempted to escape, along with the surviving Badoon. Entering
the Ultimate Punisher, the General had a change of heart when the Badoon
tried to call for reinforcements from his home world. Shooting the Badoon
in the back, the Punisher General attempted to negotiate his way to freedom,
but when he left the tank, he was shot in the head by Gabrielle.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#17-fb (18, 19, 20(d)
Ned Whitter
A sniper, Ned nearly assassinated Major Victory. He would've easily accomplished the task if it wasn't for a diversion caused by the mutant Talon. Ned was then beaten on by Charlie 27, until the Ultimate Punisher scared the Guardians away. When the Punisher General didn't like Ned's answer to why he let the Guardians get away, he snapped Ned's neck.
Ned was practically fearless, as even while getting his face
caved in by Charlie 27, he spat on him in defiance.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (18, 19(d)
Belle
A sleeper agent for the Punishers, Belle was able to fool the
Commandeers into believing she shared their cause. When the Commandeers met
the Guardians, Belle began to flirt with Charlie 27. After the Guardians
and Commandeers confronted the Punishers and their Badoon friends in the
sewers, Belle showed her true nature, pointing a gun at Charlie's head. After
the returning Major Victory caused a distraction, Commandeer member Gabrielle
shot Belle, killing her. Belle spoke with a thick Southern belle
accent.
--Guardians of the Galaxy 17 (18, 19, 20(d)
Dunn
Dunn had reached the level of Lieutenant in the Punisher
organization, but seemed to mostly work as an information source for the
Punisher General. He likely died with the rest of the Punishers in the final
battle with the Commandeers.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18
"Double Bonus"
Double Bonus led a group of Punishers who met up with Old Redd,
Yondu and Inez. He was quite pleased that he was able to shoot Inez point-blank,
gushing that this might get him a "double bonus" (Hence the name.) His lack
of respect for life sent Yondu into a rage, and he was torn up by the usually
stoic Guardian's hand-axe.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18(d)
The Ultimate Punisher
A nearly indestructible tank, the Ultimate Punisher was sent
in to finish off the Guardians and Commandeers, forcing them to retreat.
When things got bad in the final confrontation between the Commandeers and
Punishers, the Punisher General and Durge attempted to escape, using the
Ultimate Punisher. As they left, Hollywood lifted the Ultimate Punisher over
his head and threw it off a building. Luckily, Krugarr was able to catch
it, and teleported it, along with the Guardians to a safe location, where
Charlie 27 rigged it to explode.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18 (20(d)
Appearances:
Guardians of the Galaxy I#17-20 (October, 1991 - January, 1992) - Jim Valentino (writer/pencils), Steve Montano (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
First Posted: 12/21/2003
Last updated: 02/16/2004
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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